I live. With kids.

Tag Archives: ABCs

I’m starting to get to the point in my life where not a lot blows my mind. Maybe it’s because I’ve seen so much, both good and bad, that I expect to see the best and worst of people. How cynical, I know.

The only thing that really wows me anymore are my kids and the things they do or say. The other night my daughter told an unnamed member of the family they ate way more crackers “than are in a serving size.” Luckily said person laughed. This week Brant and I had a one minute and 22-second conversation (I have video) about which movie he wanted to watch after dinner. It was sort of the definition of frustrating. Brant knows exactly what he is saying. I know about one out of 12 words he is saying, so we inevitably end up yelling at each other in a language neither can really understand. He starts crying. I start laughing. He cries more. I get yelled at by Mrs. Bowman.

But I digress…back to the wowing.

On the way to work today I heard something I had never heard before. As long I’ve understood the English language (a knowledge-base that increases every day), I have always thought the word “dad” was a noun. Today I heard it used as a verb and it made a bunch of sense.

I’ve turned other nouns into verbs before. A small group of us have long boasted about our ability to “newspaper.” We should’ve made t-shirts, but we weren’t/aren’t smart enough.

So as I finished my drive to work, I thought a lot about dad as a verb and what it means to not just be a dad, but to dad.

This is one that doesn’t have a solid definition. How it is defined is different from one dad to the next, but I don’t think it’s that hard to dad. It’s difficult to be a father, the guy who has make the tough decisions or be the bad guy now and then. It’s the father’s job to help their children become good citizens, good students and just good people, to teach manners, the ABCs and right and wrong.

That’s the hard stuff.

Dad-ing (the verb) isn’t the hard stuff. To dad all you have to do is be there. Spend time with your kids reading, playing, teaching. Go for a walk or a bike ride with your kid. Take them swimming. Catch fireflies. Look at stars.

It doesn’t have be grand to count. Sure, Disney World is great and all, but your kid will love you just as much for pushing them on a swing as they will for taking them on Dumbo.